Tensions in Europe were already at a boiling point over the refugee crisis before the attacks in Paris sent the pot of fear, ignorance and hate spilling over into Europe and across the world. How does the anti-refugee, anti-Muslim backlash benefit ISIS and why haven’t we learned any lessons history has taught us about migration and acceptance?
After ISIS-claimed attacks in Paris killed 130 people and injured 368, the fear that terrorists would enter Europe with the influx of (mainly) Syrian refugees had seemed to materialize. Media reports of a (highly suspicious) Syrian passport and Egyptian passport (which ended up belonging to a victim) being found at the scene of the attacks fueled the speculation that Arab refugees were certainly the perpetrators of this atrocity.
Blaming refugees for the terror attacks is problematic for two main reasons: Firstly, the kind of senseless and indiscriminate bloodshed seen in the attacks in Paris on Nov. 13, and daily on the streets of Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Sudan, etc., is the very reason millions of people are fleeing their homelands in the first place.
Secondly, this fear of refugees and Islamophobic backlash is exactly what ISIS wants. Counter-terror analysts and political science experts have said that despite the Islamic State’s claim that they acted in retribution for French airstrikes in Syria, their long-game strategy is actually worse.
ISIS has a two-pronged approach to terrorism. In addition to the more obvious means of gruesome campaigns in the Middle East and violent attacks as in Paris, they are also using these tactics to advance another goal: to induce fear of refugees in Europe in order to provoke an anti-Islamic reaction.
In their view, this will force Muslims in the West to have only two options: either abandon their faith or return to the warm embrace of the self-proclaimed Caliphate of the Islamic State. In short, the idea is that ISIS wants people to fear, hate and persecute Muslims worldwide in the hope that it will anger and radicalize Muslims and encourage them to join in ISIS’s delusional ideology.
Politicians are often quick to capitalize on people’s fears and promote the kind of anti-refugee, anti-Muslim backlash that ends up giving ISIS exactly what they want. Look at the campaign promises of this Australian politician:
Can you imagine that type of intolerance aimed at any other population being as widely accepted?
In the US, Republican presidential front-runner and absolute moron, Donald Trump has said he would consider making Muslim-Americans register with a government database, carry some sort of special identification card or otherwise identify themselves as Muslim. Another top Republican presidential hopeful, Ben Carson, repeatedly compared refugees to rabid dogs.
Also in the US, governors of 26 states have promised to refuse entry to Syrian refugees, despite not being legally allowed to do so. This seems rather absurd given that the United States is a nation of immigrants.
With the notable exception of Native Americans and slaves who didn’t have a say in the matter, everyone in the US is there because at some point in time, their relatives were escaping persecution, war, famine, or lack of opportunities in their homelands and sought refuge in a land that claims to take in the “tired, poor and huddled masses”.
It seems that the world is destined to repeat its mistakes all over again. Mass migrations, particularly those following conflicts, are common throughout history and all over the globe, and each time, people are generally unwelcoming and oftentimes blatantly hostile towards the migrants.
What is with the short historical-memory span? Take a look at these pictures. No those aren’t Syrian refugees, they’re European refugees fleeing Albania in 1991.
It appears as though we will continue to ignore all of the wisdom hindsight has to offer and get this thing wrong yet again. People, both citizens and governments, should not blame the victims in this situation. Politicians should humanize the refugees instead of politicizing them. Instead of promoting fear and intolerance, this current crisis could teach all of us a thing or two about compassion and empathy. The sooner we realize that we’re all in this together, the better off everyone will be.
WE SAID THIS: Read More What You Need To Know About the Syria Conflict in a Nutshell